Her best titles are always based on her name - her debut, Like A Virgin, Like a Prayer, The Immaculate Collection, even COADF, and now this. It's already been said but she really does have the fucking luckiest name in music history.

I'm just hoping the first single is a red herring built around the Superbowl and album is actually destroys.

Her best titles are always based on her name - her debut, Like A Virgin, Like a Prayer, The Immaculate Collection, even COADF, and now this. It's already been said but she really does have the fucking luckiest name in music history.

By referring to Madonna as a fairground stripper, Elton has basically described 99% of all female pop singers out there today. Their shtick consists of look changes, showing a boob, showing a piece of ass, pretending to be bisexual etc etc etc. The saddest thing is that gay men have supported the careers of these women.

I honestly don't know why men who are interested sexually in men have gone and supported the careers of women who appeal sexually to men who are not like us. Strange, isn't it?

I listened to Hard Candy a couple months ago and it didn't seem nearly as bad as I remembered.

I don't think I've ever been more wrong, more often, more vehemently, in as many different ways, over a longer period of time, and with as many supposedly clear-eyed self-revisions as with Madonna. There was never a Madonna album I liked on first listen. I'm still suddenly falling in love with old singles I hated. It's all on an upward curve, though, so there's something pleasingly right to me about her confidence, which makes me laugh. I feel silly offering strong opinions about her music at all anymore, one way or the other (given how much I now like Hard Candy, I suspect MDNA is better than this thread's borderline consensus, but of course I'm going to think that).

I will say, I now might vote the other way on that TS: Madonna vs. Elvis thread. The not-trying/not-showing-up-to-the-studio quality discussed above strikes me as a refinement of something that was always mysteriously there (or not there) in her singing. To me it's the sound of close, fascinated, concerned attentiveness to the contours of a melody just within reach of her ability, almost child-like with wonder or conscientiousness or both, but which winds up registering emotionally as all kinds of intimacy and attitude. Or maybe that's just me. Anyway, I'm beginning to think I'd love her if she'd never released anything but the last two albums...

Also he has played FOUR Madonna songs as well as the opening riff of "Eye Of The Tiger". This guy is the WORST and his only shot of redeeming himself is playing "If Madonna Calls" or maybe even just "Queen's English"

Two hours of Vigilant Citizen pop-celebrity Illuminati/Osiris shlock set to dubstep. Some parts legitimately great, but weird apocalyptic vibe was more off-putting WTF than ridiculously engaging. Suspect Roger Waters would like this show a lot.

More than once, gf and I turned to each other and said "is she really drunk?"

so she's put the album up for pre-order and chucked out those songs that leaked as early downloads. 13 other tracks will come in march.

while it's probably a smart move, i don't exactly like the precedent of brazilian hacker stans being able to force the hands of their favourite artists (although considering north korean hackers seemingly managed to stop the interview's release this might prove the future).

"devil pray" is the best thing here. it wouldn't sound too out of place on american life (save for the fact she's left kabbalistic musings behind for a hallucinatory drug trip through catholic hell). that folktronica sound is really such a comfortable fit for her in many ways, and in hindsight kind of makes me think she axed mirwais too soon.

"ghosttown" is fairly standard tedder-esque balladry (he's got a writing credit on "devil pray" but not this which feels like a mistake) but she sounds so much better vocally on it that she has in years and it makes such a difference. someone in her team needs to tell her to stay in her lower register because when she veers out of it she ends up sabatoging even potentially great material. but we've discussed this here ad nauseum.

i don't even know what the fuck "illuminati" is, but i've long expected madonna to become music's norma desmond so in a way it makes more sense than anything else here. i wish she's stop with this rebel heart nonsense and just call an album i am big, it's the charts that got small already.